A World Connected
“Next”, John thought. As the next resume came into view, John gave it a quick overall scan before reading the contents. Taylor Rasmund was a recent graduate of the University of Iowa who had majored in finance. She was applying for a business analyst position, and she had some prior experiences as well. Her experience was a bit lacking but she had a chip and looked willing to learn so John mentally filed the resume away for later. “Next”.
Richard Gormo, also a recent college graduate. He had a year of part time and internship positions at various businesses. As John read through the remainder of the resume, he noticed that Richard had not put his chip status on the form. “Maybe he forgot”, John thought. “Or maybe he is not chipped”. John figured he did not want to take the risk and discarded the resume. He didn’t have anything against people who weren’t chipped — it was just that they were generally slower and less efficient workers. Instant access to the internet as well as the ability to mentally interface with many devices were helpful in all sorts of fields and professions after all. “Next”.
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The chip was an invention that had come out over 40 years ago. It was a small almost microscopic chip that could interface and communicate with all sorts of devices. The chip was typically injected into people from a young age and gave them access to a whole new world. It was controlled by brain activity- merely thinking of something would get it to activate. Initially the chip takes some time to learn how to use but soon it was just like another limb — one that allowed them constant access to the internet and came with many features and functionalities.
The chip will respond to mental commands as a voice in your head. A thought of “bring up the weather forecast” will have the chip play back a weather report for your area. But it also had many more functions. Many devices nowadays were designed with the chip in mind. The chip let humans control their homes, cars, and even their own bodies. John was currently using a set of contacts that brought up visuals as well as the voice results. It was a common accessory that many used to enhance their chip experience. Amputees or those with disabilities have found that the chip allows bionic limbs to serve as a very close substitute for their missing limbs.
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As John finished wrapping up the resumes, he mentally composed an email that indicated the 4 applicants including Taylor that interested him and sent it to HR. He messaged his friend Steve and asked if he wanted to go and check out the new restaurant that had just opened a few blocks down. Moments later, Steve’s voice appeared in John’s head and said that he was good to go. John headed down and met up with Steve in the main lobby before heading out. As the two friends walked they chatted about their current projects and general life. This was done half mentally. Like talking verbally, the chip could broadcast your thoughts to those around you or just to a chosen individual like in a call. While talking mentally was faster and less prone to mishearing, verbal talking had its own merits. It allowed the conversation to flow better, and it was easier to people to control what they say than what they thought. After all, if you broadcast your thoughts to others, they could get a glimpse of your other thoughts as well. Full mental conversions usually were just done between people you absolutely trusted. A combination of both was done between friends and strangers would often use verbal communication or transcribed verbal communication (think a phone call).
As the two friends headed into the restaurant, they found a kiosk in which they could order from as well as a small crowd of people. “Pretty popular huh” Steve said. The two mentally connected their chips to the kiosk to order their meal. This was a common thing. All around the city and stores there were devices that were made with the chip in mind. The chip would serve as a focal point of communication. Similar types of devices could be found in every home — used to control everything from unlocking doors to the thermostat.
John saw his contact vision fill up with the menu. He mentally flipped through it and placed his order. After enjoying their meal, John and Steve headed back to work. John had heard back from HR and they were asking when he was free for an interview. John responded by sending them his calendar.
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The chip could read your thoughts so one of the fears that came with it is the idea of privacy and security. How safe would you feel if someone could listen into your private thoughts? The chip came with a sophisticated encryption system that made it impossible to brute force hack your way into someone else’s chip. There were also certain security designs such as the chip using measurements such as body weight, blood pressure, and a mental profile to ensure that it is being accessed by its owner.
A mental profile is essentially a mental fingerprint. Every single individual has a unique one and it is said to be impossible to recreate by someone else — though research (malicious or not) is being done on the very topic. It is used to carefully guard and shield someone’s online presence and chip access.
Even with these security features in mind there are still risks. Akin to having a sophisticated security system but leaving the front door open, someone could still get in. If someone disables enough security features, eventually someone would be able to gain access to your thoughts. The most damaging result from this is potential harm to relationships as a person’s true thoughts and feelings are shown. Surprisingly companies were not all that interested in a person’s mental thoughts. They had done some research on their own and found that someone’s private thoughts did not give them a better idea of someone’s wants than just collecting data from their online presence instead. Just going through the vast amounts of data gathered from social media sites using their complicated algorithms proved to be a far more cost-effective way to gather market data than a person’s thoughts. This was in part explained that people often lie to themselves and so their thoughts conveyed an altered reality.
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John double checked his meeting room. It was an online representation of his office with his desk. Even the view from the windows was perfectly recreated. John liked his physical office so that was the recreation point he used for his online office. Using the contacts and the chip, an augmented reality space could be formed in which people could meet up regardless of distance. This was a good way to communicate between people and was used for education, interviews, doctor visits, and much more.
Today John had to interview Taylor, one of the applicants he had chosen. Interviews were done online for convenience. He sat down at his desk and opened the room allowing others to connect. In this case the room would only allow Taylor to connect, and this was verified using the mental profile system. After waiting a few minutes, a knock on the door served to tell him that Taylor had arrived.
“Come in”, he said. The door opened and a young lady walked in. John noted her attire. It was one of the easiest parts of the interview now. The online representation of yourself could be customized to fit your needs and so clothing always appeared to be tailor made. His own suit and pants also fit extremely well. From there the interview went smoothly, the virtual office space serving as a seamless reality that connected the two people who could be miles away.
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The chip had become a core part of everyday life. People were just expected to have one and devices, services, and employers were all working under the assumption that you had one. Such a device has impacted and changed society very quickly and to some it was hard to imagine what life was like before they had the chip.
